Sheep on a beach by P. Crumble and Danielle McDonald

Scholastic Australia, 2012. ISBN 9781742833217.
(Pre-school - 6) Picture book. Imagine a day at the beach if you were a sun loving sheep. Sand, sun, blue water, exotic drinks, beach umbrella and lots of friends answering your Twitter call make Sheep's day!
Crumble has made his rhyming text a joy for the beginning reader and I suspect that it will really appeal to boys in particular. The title page sees a sheep gambolling in a green paddock and printed on the green grass is the word 'Sheep'. Repetition then follows throughout the book with a small amount of accumulative text on each double page spread.

Sheep.
Sheep on a beach

The following page adds another sentence
Sheep.
Sheep on a beach.
Umbrella up, towel underneath.

Internal rhymes make this a good book to read out loud and the quirky humour is very amusing. The rhyme with Sheep tweeting his friends the 'ewes' is very funny and an ideal way for a teacher to talk about the use of 'yous' in everyday language.
The bright colourful illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to this beach adventure. They complement the text and make it very easy for the young reader to work out what is happening. The colours are very bright and the expressions on the sheep's face with its huge teeth and cartoon like eyes add tot he sense of fun and happiness at the beach. A little crab features on every page and its actions like putting zinc cream on the sheep's nose and building a sand castle will be an additional talking point for the young reader.
An ideal introduction to the beach for young children, this book will also be a useful first reader.
Pat Pledger